The Best Countertop Ice Makers

Ice runs out at the worst times. You've got six people over, the fridge dispenser is coughing out three cubes a minute, and someone's drink is already warm. A countertop ice maker fixes that problem for a lot of homes, because it makes ice on a loop from a tank you fill by hand — no plumbing, no installer, no under-counter cabinet to sacrifice. Most of these machines drop a batch every six to fifteen minutes and hold a couple of pounds at a time, which is enough to keep a party stocked if you keep emptying the basket.

Here's the catch nobody puts on the box: almost none of these are freezers. Ice sits in an unrefrigerated basket, and it starts melting back into the reservoir within one to three hours depending on how warm your kitchen is. Wirecutter has flagged this as the single most common surprise for new buyers. The water gets recycled, so nothing's wasted, but you can't fill the basket in the morning and expect ice at dinner. Plan on transferring batches to your freezer or a cooler.

The other thing to know is that daily-capacity numbers describe a machine running nonstop under lab conditions, not what's sitting in your basket. CNET found the GE Profile Opal 2.0 makes roughly 24 pounds a day in a normal 70-degree kitchen against a 38-pound spec, and Tom's Guide saw budget bullet models lose 15 to 20 percent of their output once ambient temperatures cleared 85 degrees. We think that the GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra is the best countertop ice maker for most people, and that the Frigidaire EFIC189 is the one to buy if you just want a lot of ice without spending much.

Buy a countertop ice maker if your refrigerator doesn't dispense ice, if it dispenses ice badly, or if you go through more than a tray or two a day. They're a good fit for apartments and condos without room for an under-counter unit, for offices with no plumbing for a proper machine, and for RVs and campers where you'd otherwise be buying bags. They're also the only practical way to get nugget ice at home without a plumbed installation. If you entertain regularly, the extra couple of pounds sitting in a basket is worth the counter space on its own.

Skip it if your fridge already makes plenty of ice and you're only after a different shape — that's a lot of counter for a texture preference, though nugget devotees will tell you it's worth it. Skip it too if you expect a machine that stores ice. These aren't freezers, and ice melts back into the reservoir within a few hours. This guide covers portable countertop units you fill by hand; it doesn't cover plumbed under-counter machines, built-in refrigerator ice makers, or commercial equipment.

We weighed five things. Ice type: nugget and bullet are different products at different prices, so we judged each against its own category rather than against each other. Realistic output: we discounted marketed daily capacity against independent findings — CNET measured about 24 pounds a day from a machine rated at 38 — and paid more attention to how much ice a basket holds at once. Speed: Good Housekeeping's lab logged first batches from 6 minutes for bullet machines to 28 for nugget ones, and we penalized anything lagging its category. Noise: Bob Vila measured 36 to 54 dB across seven popular units, with nugget machines running about 6 dB louder, and we read owner reports for noise that got worse over months. Cleaning and durability: Consumer Reports links early failure to scale buildup, so self-cleaning cycles and scale-inhibiting filters counted, as did any pattern of failures showing up right after the return window closes.

If you want the smallest, lightest machine you can carry: The EUHOMY Countertop Ice Maker Machine with Handle ($69.77) — The Euhomy IM-F weighs about 13 pounds, has a molded handle on top and is under 9 inches wide. That makes it the easiest one here to move between a kitchen counter, a camper and a tailgate. It makes bullet ice in six minutes from a 1.2-liter tank and self-cleans. What you give up is capacity: the basket holds about 1.3 pounds, the least of anything in this guide, and owners in hot weather report ice melting faster than they can use it. It's a one-or-two-person machine, and owners who treat it that way are the ones who stay happy with it.

If you want a compact bullet machine that stays quiet: The Antarctic Star Countertop Ice Maker Machine ($69.99) — Antarctic Star rates this one under 40 dB, which is the lowest claimed figure in this guide and puts it near the quiet end of Bob Vila's 36-to-54 dB range. It's rated at 26 pounds a day with first ice in six minutes, two cube sizes, one-touch self-cleaning, and a footprint just over 10 inches deep — small enough for an RV galley or a beach house. Owners like the build and note it uses a real compressor rather than a thermoelectric plate. Long-term durability is the open question; some owners report it slowing down or quitting after a stretch of heavy use, and the tank needs refilling often.

This is what our research surfaced, not a survey of everything on the market. Countertop ice makers turn over fast and a lot of near-identical machines share the same internals under different brand names, so treat the machine below as representative of a type rather than as the only alternative worth knowing about.

The Silonn Ice Makers Countertop ($108.01) — The Silonn SLIM01 is a solid, unremarkable bullet-ice machine: 26 pounds a day, nine cubes in six minutes, two cube sizes, self-cleaning, and a large owner base that skews positive. Several owners report running it constantly for well over a year without trouble, which counts for something. It lost to the Frigidaire on capacity — the Frigidaire's basket holds more, which matters when you're serving a group — and on the depth of its track record. The Silonn also blows warm air hard out one side, so it needs breathing room on the counter, not a tight cabinet nook. If you find it configured the way you want and the footprint suits your counter better, you won't be making a mistake.

Descaling is the difference between a machine that lasts and one that quits. Consumer Reports recommends a descale every four to six weeks anywhere tap water hardness clears 180 ppm, because calcium builds up on the evaporator, strains the compressor and quietly cuts your output. Self-cleaning cycles help — most run 20 to 30 minutes with a citric-acid solution — but Popular Mechanics is clear that they don't replace a quarterly deep clean with a proper descaling product. A few habits go a long way: empty and dry the reservoir when the machine sits unused, since standing water grows a film that ends up in your ice; use filtered water if your tap runs hard; and let a new machine stand upright for 24 hours before you plug it in, so the compressor oil settles. Transfer finished ice to your freezer rather than letting it melt back into the tank.

For this guide:

• We read published findings from CNET, Good Housekeeping, Consumer Reports, Bob Vila, Forbes Home, Popular Mechanics, Tom's Guide and Wirecutter on countertop ice maker output, noise and maintenance.
• We compared manufacturer spec sheets for every machine in this guide on daily capacity, first-batch time, tank size, footprint and rated noise level.
• We read owner feedback across all seven listings looking for repeated themes — particularly noise that worsens over time, failures clustered near the end of the return window, and how quickly ice melts in the basket.
• We read owner reviews on every listing, weighted toward the critical ones, because that is where the recurring failures show up.
• We have a systematic way of automatically fetching the latest prices, so the numbers on this page stay current.
• This is a research-focused guide, so the team may not own every product listed — though we often do own the top winners, which gives us extra context for the recommendations.
• We don't accept free products, and the retailer commission never changes which product we recommend.